Site Mobile Navigation

Hezbollah Leader Assails European Sanctions

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Hezbollah’s leader on Wednesday criticized the European Union’s decision to blacklist his organization’s military wing as a terrorist group, saying the move gave Israel “legal cover” to wage war against Lebanon.

In a speech delivered via video to an Islamic women’s group, the leader, Hassan Nasrallah, accused the European Union of “bowing down” to the United States and Israel, which have long listed Hezbollah as a terrorist group, and said the move was at odds with European interests.

Mr. Nasrallah did not specify what those interests were. But Ali Rizk, who translates and analyzes his speeches for PressTV, the satellite channel of Iran, Hezbollah’s patron, said Mr. Nasrallah was hinting that by moving closer to Israel and the United States on Middle Eastern policy, European leaders risked inspiring anti-European sentiment in the Arab and Muslim world.

While Hezbollah’s popularity with its Lebanese Shiite base remains strong, its standing in the wider Muslim world has been rocked by its military intervention against the Syrian uprising challenging its ally, President Bashar al-Assad.

Hezbollah keeps an arsenal of rockets trained on Israel, and it won wide support in the region when it emerged standing after a brief war with Israel in 2006. But some former admirers say Hezbollah lost its status as a champion of the underdog by backing Mr. Assad, and even some supporters are ambivalent about the group’s decision to fight fellow Arab Muslims.

The European designation adds to a host of new problems facing Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group that is also the country’s most powerful political party. The war in Syria threatens its arms pipeline from Iran. Its operatives have been accused of carrying out a bombing that killed five Israeli tourists and their driver in Bulgaria, and of plotting a similar attack in Cyprus. Hezbollah’s stance against the mostly Sunni Syrian uprising has raised sectarian tensions in Lebanon, and the group is on high alert for attacks at home after a car bomb exploded July 9 in its territory in Beirut’s southern suburbs, wounding more than 50 people.

The blacklisting, announced Monday by European foreign ministers at a meeting in Brussels but not yet formally issued, is expected to lead to sanctions like asset freezes and travel bans on Hezbollah leaders, and it could pave the way to new crackdowns on the group’s fund-raising activities in Europe, an important conduit for donations.

Yet Mr. Nasrallah sought to project confidence, addressing the new blacklisting with a jocular tone. Hezbollah, he said, has no assets or investments in Europe, and, he added, its leaders “don’t take our vacations in Sardinia,” but in Lebanon — a dig at political rivals known for their lavish living.

An error has occurred. Please try again later.

You are already subscribed to this email.

He asserted that European officials made the decision reluctantly, noting that the designation covered only Hezbollah’s “military wing,” allowing Europe’s representatives here to continue meeting with the party’s political leaders. European diplomats have said that in putting together the written declaration, they are looking for ways to avoid penalizing the party’s organizations that provide social services.

In a country where many political parties have their own militias, of which Hezbollah’s is by far the strongest, members of Parliament and fighters are widely viewed by supporters and detractors alike as part of a single organization. Mr. Nasrallah drew laughs when he suggested jokingly that the next Lebanese government should include a minister from Hezbollah’s “military wing.”

He warned Hezbollah’s domestic rivals not to try to take political advantage of the decision, and he instructed European officials to “soak your declaration in a glass of water and drink it.”

Hwaida Saad contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on July 25, 2013, on Page A11 of the New York edition with the headline: Lebanon: Hezbollah’s Leader Rails
Against Terrorist Designation. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe